Well, I suppose it depends on who you ask... there are plenty of people out there who look in my direction and say, "The boy ain't right."
Yes, we're fine. I skipped a couple days from posting here... we have been busy. "Too busy to write about it?" Yeah.
We have been going through the house. Keep, donate, toss. After 20 years in this house, we've accumulated a lot of stuff. Some of it is stuff we will never need again. Like cruising charts for some really spectacular waters... the Florida Keys, the Gulf Coast (south Texas to Florida), the Erie Canal (and Trent-Severn Waterway in Canada), Lake Powell, Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands (in Canada), Desolation Sound (also in Canada). We aren't going back there... well, not by boat. No telling where we might go with the motorhome. The charts are long outdated, so they really wouldn't have any value to another cruising boater. Gone.
That cruising guide I have in my hand there was written by friends Mark and Diana Doyle. Joan and I did some editing on it for them. SO much information to make the cruising easier and safer for boaters. But, I digress.
Camera gear - so much camera gear over the years. Keep out my 360 cameras and I'll use my phone for the rest. "Oh, look - some coastal photo-art we did over the years!" Music gear - I may have accumulated more music gear than camera gear, especially the last 15 years or so. Clothes - how much clothing can two people actually wear? Last time I wore a suit: when Joan's youngest brother got married. Computer stuff - do we need to keep the boxes and manuals for the MacBook Pro we got rid of 10 years ago? I think we're safe in letting that go. How about all the cables for plugging that stuff in? Bye-bye.
Going through this stuff takes time. Brings back some great memories.
"Why go through all this stuff now?" you ask. Thanks for asking. We're putting the house up for sale. We haven't picked a realtor, yet; but that will happen soon. "Way to bury the lead, Jim," you say. Yep. Looks like we are going to become desert dwellers. With the plan to be very close to Steph and Dan.
More as things progress.
4 comments:
Patty here. Well that is HUGE news. Don't know what else to say except I know how hard it is to be far from our kids. We might actually connect sometime in AZ.
Hi Patty. Yeah, we didn't get enough time with our kid this winter, I guess. She's a joy to be around... probably because people tell her, "You're just like your Father!" Pretty sure they mean that in a complimentary kinda way. ;-)
I spent a few decades being a mountain man. Then a couple being an island boy. We'll see how I do being a desert dweller.
I know you two missed being in Arizona this winter, but you have to take care of that old guy when medical things happen. Joan has certainly been in your position... and I can really feel for Pat. Hopefully, he will mend fast and fully from this point on, and we'll trade some desert stories next winter.
Best wishes,
Jim
I still have some of my aeronautical charts even though we don't fly anymore. It is sometimes fun to browse and reminisce on a cold winter's day. One in particular is the Denali chart with all of the checkpoints used by the commercial flightseeing operators. It is really handy to know what they are saying when you hear, "Cessna 34 Tango at the Rooster Comb, 11,000 feet, heading for the amphitheater.
We once flew commercial down to Ketchikan to meet up with our friends on a Liberty 46 and sail up the Inside Passage. I used old flying charts pieced together to make a wall display chronicling our trip. Good times. One fond memory was Alice at the helm one day. We were going through "Christmas Tree Lane" between Wrangell and Petersburg which is one of the segments with the heaviest number of buoys anywhere -- like every 500 yards for miles. The boat owner did not give us very clear instructions and we encountered a red/green/red buoy at the point of an island. Not knowing which way to pass, Alice finally said, "Give me a clue or I'm steering right for it". That got his attention, and help.
Hi Earl - we left all the flying stuff behind when we moved in 2006... there was a bunch. It had been a big part of our lives, and somewhat emotional to give that all away. One thing I didn't miss: updating the Jeppesen charts. It must be a lot easier these days for pilots who can legally use an iPad in the cockpit and not have to lug around all those paper Jepps.
One big difference between flying and boating: if you aren't sure what the nav aids are telling you, you can pull the throttle into neutral on a boat and take a minute to figure it out... can't do that in a plane. ;-)
While packing things, Joan came across a pen & ink of the Beechcraft Baron we had - brings back really good memories.
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